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Monday, January 2, 2017

Reading through the Bible

I have always wanted to read through the Bible in a year. Most years begin with the resolution to "do better" at reading my Bible daily. I start a plan. I fail miserably. I have been working on daily a devotional guide, starting with Genesis and today, on a whim really, I'm dumping the bit of devotions here... I'm in the car, driving to Atlanta to celebrate my husband's birthday with an old friend, so I don't have access to my computer. Hopefully this new feature in Evernote will work and you'll be able to access the file. If not please send me an email and I'll email the file directly to you tomorrow . Here is the link to my study, I've called it....

May the roots of your faith go down deep as you sit with God's word. May the Holy Spirit make His words come alive to you.

Here is the introduction...

R O O T S

Sunday school stories

for grown-ups

Hi there.I’m so happy you are sitting here, reading this and sharing this journey with me. Before we dig in I wanted to write a few words to introduce this study to let you know where I am coming from and where I hope we will go together with this study.

I was raised in church. I had the frilly dress, best Sunday shoes kind of childhood, but not only did I learn the Bible at church I also learned it at home. I memorized my Bible verses and Scripture songs. I knew the stories of Ruth & Esther the way most girls know about Ariel & Belle. It's a spiritual heritage with its bright spots and dark corners but overall it’s been a firm foundation and one that I'm thankful for.

As I've been leading a small group I've heard many of my friends regret that they didn't know the Bible stories that they want to teach their children as well as they’d want to – and so the dream for this study began to grow in my heart and mind: the Sunday School stories I grew up re-packaged for women like me with some grown-up perspective.

As I was praying over this study one morning God showed me a picture of what this study could be. I saw a cozy house, with big picture windows that let in lots of light. It was beautifully decorated with a comfy chair and pretty curtains and pictures on the walls. God showed me that this study is the house with bare walls - it's His Spirit who comes in and fills the empty spaces. He gives us answers to the questions and new questions of our own. He'll bring scriptures to mind for you to look up and jot down and He reveals the truths behind His Words that I can not even begin to comprehend and so the beauty of this study will, I hope, be that this could become a collection of moments where we met with God. A place where we stack up our stones and say "this far God has led me" and "surely God was in this place and I didn't even know it"

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19 ESV)

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6-7 ESV)

May the roots of our faith sink deep down into God and may we turn every question into a prayer and every struggle into a cry to the One who loves us and has been revealing Himself to us from the beginning of time.